The Internet is a weird place. I always had the feeling but now that most of my communication with the outside world is through the internet, I’m starting to understand the nature of this animal in the way I never have before.
I had been thinking about the internet for the past 15 years in relationship to what I do: presenting live music. Many people around me always talked about live streaming but I was never convinced. Even under the best of technical circumstances, the internet fails to communicate the urgency and joy and excitement of live music, especially in jazz. My feeling has always been, why would I want to present a water-down version of what I love?
Some might argue that access to music through streaming is valuable to those who do not have access to the City. Perhaps. But even then, I’m not convinced. I have said this before many times, but listening to Roy (Hargrove) in live setting is such a distinct experience which all types of media - be it a CD, be it a video - fail to capture and communicate in its entirety. Something is always amiss when not in the live setting. There will be people out there who would think they know Roy and his music without experiencing him live and that would be incorrect. As a presenter, I don’t really want to create an opportunity for the artists I work with to be exposed to the world under less than the best light. I mean, you can make your first impression only once.
Nevertheless, I have been thinking about the internet on and off for quite a while. It has always been in the back of my mind. I did not want to ignore it and make a mistake the recording industry made in the late 90s. They totally underestimated the effect of the internet and now the whole industry had sunk to the bottom of the deep blue ocean and unfortunately, I really don’t think there is any coming back from that. But I really didn’t have any idea how to utilize and incorporate the internet into what I do without compromising the integrity and quality of my work and artists’ work. I didn’t really have resources nor the mental and physical energy to make something happen while running The Jazz Gallery.
Then the pandemic happened.
Now I have no choice but to work with the internet. Initially, I was so bummed that we had to close The Jazz Gallery. And with no end in sight at that. But necessity is a mother of invention and creativity. I started experimenting with online formats to bring music and community together. Upside to the current horror show is that nobody is complaining that I’m trying things out and sometimes things don’t pan out well. People are generous with allowance for me to figure things out. This would have never been ok when things were running normally and people had certain expectations from paid entertainment. But right now, people get that we are dealing with something unprecedented in our lifetime and imperfections are kindly ignored.
I started doing Happy Hour Hangs 10 days after the shutdown began. Then a weekly dance party. The Lockdown Session came after that. The Jazz Gallery produced over 25 online events thus far and I have learned a lot about what works and what doesn’t and the nature of this internet thing.
The internet is weirdly intimate and intrusive, yet, impersonal at the same time. It also takes some flavor out of music when you are just posting a video of live performances. Simply recording the live music does not communicate well at all. It is not captivating and it doesn't hold. One must create a representation of your work that is specifically tailored to this animal.
Initially, I came up with the format of the Lockdown Session because I really didn’t want to do live streaming. As I mentioned earlier, in my opinion, it’s not ideal under the best of circumstances, let alone under the current situation. Almost zero musicians have access to proper internet bandwidth and audio setup for the live streaming to sound good. On top of that, because of the social distancing, almost all the live streaming happening now are solo performances. Honestly, regardless of the musicianship, I can’t listen to another solo performance with bad audio setup. This is not a reflection on any artists and their crafts. Human ears and mind can only take so much low sound quality solo streaming.
Back to the Lockdown Sessions. In each session, I have asked 4 artists to prepare a 10-15 minutes videos to be presented live on ZOOM. There was no parameter to what they can do with the videos so long as it’s a video. Artists will be available throughout the duration of each session to interact with the audience. In my mind, it’s live-ish without compromising the quality of music. Each artist can control their outputs. I didn’t really know if the format would work but it was something to try out (by the way, it’s great and so fun!). Later, Miguel (Zenon) described it aptly “Jazz Variety Show.” I think I’d like to call it Jazz MTV. Lol.
The very first artist we presented at the very first installation of the Lockdown Session was Theo Bleckmann and he immediately raised the bar so high and at the same time he made me realize something about the internet. Theo’s video exhibited that he totally gets what this internet media can do for an artist. (which also means that he gets what does not work.) It was visually intriguing and really fun to watch. Some might say it was a bit over the top but as I said earlier, the internet makes things a bit bland. So it was perfect for the medium. The visual elements elevated his music and enhanced the listening experience so much. I have always liked Theo’s music but the addition of the visual elements boosted the experience so much and I felt like I have a renewed appreciation for his artistry. We humans do listen with our eyes. And I really think that it is something important for the musicians to understand.
Our senses are so flawed and our listening experiences are easily affected by the visual enhancement; while it can be a source of lament for musically keen people who create music, I really think musicians should think of ways to take advantage of that flaw. We are what we are and we get what we get. There is no point in complaining about how we are put together. And when dealing with media on the internet, one should be aware of its flattening affect and people’s attention span or rather lack thereof.
Recording industry as a source of income is no more. The internet is here to stay. This pandemic is giving us time to figure this out. If you want to gripe about where things are going, that’s your prerogative. Mine? I want to find a way to take advantage of it while being true to myself. I think it can be done.